Easy Fettuccine Alfredo

This easy fettuccine Alfredo recipe uses simple ingredients and takes less than 15 minutes to make. The creamy, silky sauce is out of this world good!

My favorite homemade fettuccine Alfredo is inspired by Roman-style fettuccine, so you know it will be good! It’s creamy, but light on its feet. No goopy Alfredo sauce, here!

The whole family loves this dish so much. We love it so much that we’ve also shared this chicken Alfredo recipe made with the same sauce. We also love this spinach sausage Alfredo pasta.

Key Ingredients

• Fettuccine: Dried or fresh fettuccine pasta is the classic choice, but you can use other pasta shapes if that’s what you have on hand. If you are up for a kitchen project, make this recipe with fresh homemade pasta!
• Butter: I recommend using high-quality butter, and I especially love the flavor of European butter (or European-style butter). I’ve used Kerrygold to make the sauce in our photos, which is delicious and gives the sauce a creamy yellow color.
• Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese: Our homemade Alfredo sauce has a short list of ingredients, so I use the best. Authentic Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano melts beautifully into the sauce. For the best results, use finely grated cheese. Larger shreds of cheese or less authentic parmesan brands tend to make the sauce more stringy than creamy.
• Sour Cream: I don’t use any heavy cream for this Alfredo sauce recipe. Instead, I add 2 tablespoons of sour cream. It helps make the sauce creamy without making it heavy, and I love the subtle tang it adds.
• Garlic: You won’t see garlic in many fettuccine Alfredo recipes, but we love adding it. I use my microplane to grate a small amount into the sauce. You’ll want to use a small clove or half of a larger one. It might smell a bit strong at first, but the aroma mellows in the sauce after a minute or so.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

My Tips for Making the Best Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo

Tip 1: Cook your fettuccine in salted water. This is true for all of our pasta recipes, but since this sauce is so simple, you really want to start with well-seasoned pasta for the best results. So your fettuccine turns out delicious, use 1 tablespoon of sea salt for 8 cups of water.

Tip 2: Save some pasta water. Just like making pasta carbonara, cacio e pepe, and other classic Italian pasta dishes, save about a cup of the hot starchy pasta cooking water before you drain the pasta. You will use it to bring the Alfredo sauce together later on.

Tip 3: Toss, toss, and toss some more. While your fettuccine cooks, you will cut butter into small pieces and add them to a mixing bowl with finely grated parmesan cheese and sour cream. When the noodles are ready, transfer them to the mixing bowl and use tongs to toss with the butter, cheese, and sour cream. Add a good splash of hot pasta cooking water and continue to toss until the sauce begins to cling to the fettuccine.

Your sauce might look thin at first, but thanks to the starches in the pasta cooking water, it will thicken and turn into a creamy sauce as you continuously mix it with the fettuccine.

Serving Suggestions

Fettuccine Alfredo is such a simple and delicious dinner. It’s incredible served as-is, but here are a few of my favorite toppings:

• Greek Marinated Chicken Breasts
• Cajun Shrimp
• Lemon Dill Baked Salmon
• Seared Scallops
• Roasted Broccoli or Roasted Broccolini
• Sautéed Mushrooms or Roasted Mushrooms

For something on the side, try sautéed spinach, sautéed kale, my Italian chopped salad, Caprese salad, or a bowl of greens with homemade Italian dressing. Garlic bread is always welcome in our house, too!